Chapter 70

Daisy

‘What was that?'

‘What was what?' I say coolly.

‘What you had in your hand just now. It looked like a watch.'

‘A watch?' I laugh incredulously.

‘Yes,' you say, your frown lines intensify. ‘I saw a strap. It was green.' You take a few steps towards me. ‘Can I see it, please?' There's an undercurrent of anger in your voice. I don't like it, Bella. I thought you were nice. I thought you trusted me.

I swallow bile that is creeping up my throat and it pools into my stomach like vinegar. Feeling the dampness of sweat forming at my hairline, I move away from you. I need to think fast. If I tell you the truth, will you dob me in, or protect me like you did Zelda? Will you, Bella? Do you really love me as much as her? I mean, I know we share some DNA, about twenty-five percent with half siblings, I looked it up, but you've got history with her.

Our eyes lock and I feel my resolve dwindling. My nerves flutter under my skin as the all too familiar sensation of fight or flight slithers in. Swallowing hard, my eyes dart to the back gate, left agape for today's viewing, and the flight of steps directly behind you. Twenty-six. I counted them. I can't go down for this, Bella. I can't go to prison. You must sense my tension because you intuitively take a step back, but you style it out, as if you're leaning your weight onto one leg and fold your arms. I don't want to hurt you, Bella. You must protect me. You must understand why I had to kill Frank. You must. You must. You must. I open my mouth to speak when someone yells. ‘What in the world is that?'

You jolt your head round. Fiona is pointing at the hot tub beneath my pergola as she makes her way down the flight of steps, leading to the lower level. My hand slides into my handbag and I slip the wristwatch into the hidden zip compartment, away from your prying eyes.

‘A Jacuzzi,' Linda says, following Fiona into the garden, her Manolos click-clacking against the steps. ‘Come on down, girls,' Linda calls out cheerily, waving us over.

‘We'll be there in minute.' You spin round and nod at my handbag, jaw tight. ‘Show me now, please?' God, you're like a dog with a bone.

‘Seriously?' I say, but your face is deadpan. ‘Okay, okay.' Unzipping my bag, I open it wide and your eyes dart around it suspiciously. ‘Was it this?' I pull out my green key fob. ‘I just used the key to lock the garage door.' This is true, Bella. ‘It was still in my hand when you called out to me.' This isn't true. I slipped it back into my bag the moment I locked up.

The muscles in your face ease. I can almost see your body deflating with relief. ‘I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' You pull me to you and squeeze me in your arms, kissing my hair, and I inhale the fug of your delicious perfume. ‘I don't know what came over me.' You let me go. ‘Actually, I do. For a moment, I thought I saw Frank's... Oh, never mind, my eyes are playing tricks on me.'

‘Put Frank out of your mind,' I whisper, linking my arm through yours. ‘There's no way he'll show his face around here again, and if he does, we'll deal with him. The four of us.'

We walk through the back entrance of the house and then you stop on Frank's grave and look at me. ‘Do you really think he's gone for good, Daisy, because sometimes I just think…' You wrap your arms around yourself and look around you, a haunting look on your face, ‘almost as if, you know, I can feel his energy.' A beat and then, ‘Oh, ignore me. I'm being silly. I'm so glad you decided to buy this place and stay.' So am I, there's a corpse buried beneath it for a start. One that I put there. The last thing we want is some snazzy developer coming along and digging it all up again, and you know what they say, Bella – keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

‘It's so good of you to give Zelda a home. It'll give the two of you time to bond.' Zelda isn't like you, Bella, she's more like me, I think. All that pent up anger and hostility. You must admit, putting me through all that DNA testing was a cunty thing to do. It was kind of you to offer the DNA proof I had. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't draw a wedge between you and Georgia. Anyway, the flat is an olive branch. Perhaps, in time, Zelda will accept me too. I think she's already starting to thaw.

‘I still can't believe you're not charging Zelda rent,' you say. I tell you it's fine. I can afford it. Well, I will once I've sold Frank's watch and Fiona starts paying rent. ‘Zee's so bloody jammy.' You roll your eyes but in an affectionate way. ‘Could get away with murder, that one.' You realise what you've said and go a bit red. I scuff my shoe against Frank's grave.

‘Anyway, thank you for giving Fiona a chance,' you add, swiftly moving on. ‘I do hope you won't live to regret it.'

We descend the stairs, me behind you, holding onto the railing. ‘We'll be fine,' I say in a musical tone, ‘stop worrying. You're such a worrier.'

In the garden ahead, Linda is showing a very excited Fiona the hot tub, and Zelda has joined them, sitting on the cushioned-covered bench above the fairy lights looking at her phone. God, does she ever let go of that thing?

‘I thought you were getting rid of the Jacuzzi,' you quiz, ‘said it was tacky.' That's one word I'd use to describe it. I can think of several others, including sex pond. Bloody things are disgusting.

I squint up at the sunlight. ‘It is. I was. But Zelda's fallen in love with it.'

You smile, in a grateful way. ‘You do realise Fiona will be in it all day, don't you?' you groan, as Fiona takes selfies of the hot tub. ‘We didn't call her the spa queen for nothing.' We're standing side by side at the bottom of the stairwell. ‘Look, are you sure you want her to be your tenant? It's not too late to back out. She can be a bit of a handful.'

‘Believe me, I can handle the Fionas of this world,' I say and you raise your eyebrows. ‘I can always lock her in the hot tub if she gets out of control.'

You laugh when I say this. ‘Oh, you,' you say, elbowing me playfully on the arm. ‘You'd never do such a wicked thing.'

I would, actually. ‘God, no,' I exclaim, laughing with you. ‘Well, not on purpose.'

But accidents do tend to occur when I'm around, Bella, don't they?

I link my arms through yours. ‘Come on,' I urge, ‘let's go and welcome my new tenant.'